Former US National Security Advisor Lt Gen (retd) H R McMaster has stated there is an “undeniable complicity” between Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and terrorist groups. In his book, “At War with Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House,” McMaster reveals that during his tenure under President Donald Trump, there was resistance from the State Department and the Pentagon regarding the cessation of security aid to Pakistan.
Trump had ordered an end to all aid to Pakistan until it ceased providing safe havens to terrorists. However, McMaster writes that then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was preparing to send a military aid package to Islamabad, which included over $150 million worth of armored vehicles. The aid was eventually halted after McMaster’s intervention.
He recounts that it was challenging to get the State Department and the Pentagon to comply with Trump’s directives. Despite the South Asia strategy calling for a suspension of all aid to Pakistan, Mattis was set to deliver a substantial aid package during his visit to Islamabad. Although Mattis eventually stopped the aid shipment, other forms of assistance continued, prompting Trump to tweet on New Year’s Day criticizing the aid given to Pakistan.
McMaster also notes that Pakistan had not altered its behavior and even released Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks, just before Mattis’s visit. Additionally, a recent incident involving hostages in Pakistan highlighted the ISI’s complicity with terrorist groups. While news reports at the time criticized Trump’s tweet as impulsive and lacking a clear policy, McMaster argues that halting aid was a vital part of the South Asia strategy that Trump had approved in August at Camp David.
A lunch hosted by Trump on December 14, which included Vice President Pence, Secretary of State Tillerson, Mattis, Chief of Staff Kelly, and McMaster, provided insights into why it was challenging to implement Trump’s policy on Pakistan or to coordinate on contingency plans for North Korea.
